Â鶹ӳ»­

Title

X-ray flickering of a galactic black hole

Mentor

Richard Plotkin, Ph.D., and Erika Gwin

Department

Physics

Mentor A Biosketch

Richard Plotkin, Ph.D., uses space- and ground-based telescopes to study black hole accretion and relativistic jets, over the full range of black hole masses and accretion rates. His main research goal is to understand the physics of accretion in different regimes, in order to more effectively use radiation as a probe of Galactic and extragalactic black hole populations. 

Mentor B Biosketch

Erika Gwin is a doctoral student in the Department of Physics at the Â鶹ӳ»­. Her research focuses on reducing and analyzing x-ray data of the (potential) lower-end mass regime of intermediate mass black holes (IMBH). Gwin’s work centers on techniques and processes of data manipulation of XMM-Newton X-ray Observatory data.

Project overview

When the most massive stars end their lives, they explode as supernovae. In the process, the core of the star collapses into a black hole, an object so dense that nothing can escape its gravitational pull, even light. Millions of black holes are expected to live inside our Galaxy, but so far, astronomers have only discovered several dozen. Nearly all known black holes are in binary systems, i.e. in orbit with another star. In some systems, tidal forces from the black hole pull material from the other star into the black hole. During this process of "accretion," the infalling material will radiate light across the electromagnetic spectrum, including X-ray emission.

For this project, the PREP student will analyze new observations of an accreting black hole in our Galaxy called BW Cir. This system was observed 10 times with the XMM-Newton X-ray Observatory over a span of several months. The student will reduce the new X-ray observations and determine if the X-ray radiation varies over time. Results will teach us about the physics of black hole accretion flows and inform strategies for finding more of the millions of black holes awaiting discovery in our Galaxy. The student will learn how to analyze data from X-ray telescopes, basic programming, and data science techniques. The student will be able to explain their scientific analysis and results to their peers. Preferred qualifications for basic computer literacy, but no prior programming experience required.

Pack Research Experience Program information and application